What You Need to Know About Outdoor Wood Burners
Outdoor wood burners are a cost-effective method of heating homes and businesses. They also help reduce the dependence on fossil fuels that are non-renewable and help in implementing a sustainable energy strategy.
Wood that is well-seasoned is crucial for efficient burning. Wood that is not seasoned or green may have a higher moisture content, which can cause creosote to build up and decrease performance.
Efficient
Outdoor wood burners (OWBs) have been around for many years and offer a very eco-friendly and energy efficient way to heat your home. However, the design of OWBs that encourages an unsteady, cooler fire that results in less combustion and a higher amount of smoke, creosote, as well as particulates. Unburned fuels can lead to health problems and fire hazards, as well as affect the environment around them.
Additionally, the visible smoke puffs that OWBs produce could cause neighbors to voice their concerns. This may result in DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) taking enforcement action. This kind of issue could negatively impact your property value and even lead to your OWB being closed.
Crown Royal Stoves offers a range of EPA Certified outdoor wood furnaces called the Pristine Gasification Series that utilizes technology to boost the efficiency of combustion to ensure a smokeless, clean burning. This is achieved by using the negative pressure air system that draws fresh hot, dry, filtered air in from the bottom of the boiler and then pushes it out through the chimney at a much more rapid rate than traditional outdoor wood boilers. This is accomplished by the unique design of a multi-pass, water-filled heat exchanger made of 409 Titanium Enhanced Stainless Steel.
When used properly, the Pristine Gasification Series OWB can reach a 99% combustion efficiency for a cleaner, smokeless fire that consumes less wood and produces significantly less emissions than traditional OWBs. To further maximize your OWB's performance, it is important to only burn clean, seasoned, dry wood. The process of preparing your wood for 6 months or more prior to burning is recommended and will ensure a more efficient and more efficient burn.
You can boost the efficiency of your wood-burning stove by performing every week a "dry burn". This technique eliminates creosote accumulation, makes your boiler running efficiently and increases its life span. By adding a creosote-removing stick to your stove every time you fill it, you can drastically reduce the amount of creosote that you use. The product is available through Wisconsin Wood Furnace.
Clean
A wood burning stove can be extremely dirty due to burned soot particles. They are extremely difficult to remove so if you notice any spots of soot build-up on the glass of your stove, you must clean them right away. Otherwise the soot will get harder and become more difficult to remove. It's important to choose the right cleaner, but you should also avoid damaging the glass surface with anything that could scratch it. This could lead to an area of weakness that could shatter glass when exposed extreme temperatures.
Before you begin cleaning your wood burner it is important to ensure that it is unlit and completely cool. Make sure that you surround it with newspaper. This will stop the ash from spilling and staining surfaces.
Depending on the quality of the wood you select, it can take up to an entire year for your stove to get properly and seasoned. Seasoned wood will not only burn more efficiently and will produce less creosote. This is the material that accumulates on your chimney, reducing efficiency and posing an hazard for fire. If you're using unseasoned wood or just making a fresh fire in your outdoor wood burner, the best thing to do is open the lower back door and scoop ashes out into a non-combustible container every week.
You should also do an annual sediment flush on your boiler at a minimum every four years. This involves a simple five-second flush from the drain valve of your boiler. This will eliminate any sediments that have built up in the system, and will ensure that your boiler runs efficiently.
After you have cleaned the outside of your outdoor fireplace it is time to clean it. Before you begin, make sure to cover the stove's perimeter with newspaper. It is also helpful to wear gloves and protective eyewear. Also, you should have an shovel, a metal container for ash, and scraping tools. To safeguard the refractory, you must lay down a piece of cloth to shield it as you scrape away ash and coal deposits.
Simple to Operate
Despite their popularity (they were among the 1990s' "it" trends, as were mullet haircuts) outdoor wood boilers, also known as outdoor furnaces or outdoor wood hydronic heaters, are often misunderstood. Unlike their cousin the EPA's popular wood stoves which are designed to burn at low, constant temperatures, these boilers have a higher fire rate and produce more smoke when operating. This is why some local governments regulate or even ban their use.
OWBs are great for heating homes with high insulation levels. The visible, smoldering smoke can also be a source of complaint with neighbors, and has led to numerous OWBs being shut down or being sued in the past. For OWBs dry wood with lower moisture content is required to perform properly. Utilizing unseasoned or green wood reduces efficiency, leads to creosote to build up and may reduce the lifespan of the burner. Drying wood takes time and a moisture meter is a must for any homeowner.
In contrast dual-stage wood gasification boilers (OWGB) employ three steps of process which makes use of the available energy in the wood, resulting in less smoke. These furnaces are more efficient than traditional OWBs, and are suitable for a wide range of fuels. Wood gasification boilers need dry, seasoned wood. The majority of wood can be seasoned over the course of the course of a year. Oak and other tough trees could take up to two years to mature. They are less watery and have a denser mass. This enables them to hold heat longer, thus increasing efficiency and decreasing pollution. The EPA "Burn Wise" website and Cornell Cooperative Extension are great sources for homeowners to learn how to efficiently burn wood in order minimize air pollution.
Low Maintenance
Modern outdoor wood furnaces are constructed with the environment in mind. Modern outdoor wood furnaces don't generate excessive heat or CO2. They also burn more efficiently than indoor wood stoves. They also require less wood to generate the same amount of heat as traditional stoves.
Outdoor wood burners require less maintenance and are more forgiving of moisture content in wood than wood burning stoves for indoor use. However outdoor wood burners should only be used with properly treated or "cured" wood. Certain types of wood may take up to a year. Use a moisture meter before loading to determine the amount of water contained in the wood.
In woodburning fireplace of operation, it is crucial to examine the system on a regular basis to check for accumulation of creosote. Creosote is a by-product of combustion, can build up in the chimney and flue if they are not cleaned regularly. It can be removed with a special creosote removal product that is poured into the fire. Regular cleaning of the flue and chimney will eliminate dangerous creosote and increase efficiency.
Crown Royal Stoves developed a new airflow technology called Negative Pressure Gasification to attain 99% efficiency in combustion. Our EPA certified Pristine Series outdoor wood furnaces employ this technology to pull air from the bottom, forcing all gasses through an insulated water-surrounded secondary combustion chamber with easy-clean turbines for a smokeless and pollution-free burn.